How to Make Listing Videos Using Only Photos

How to Make Listing Videos Using Only PhotosThe Low-cost, high-value way to showcase your listings

As video continues to develop as a dominant force in the future of online marketing and communication, many agents face the difficult question of how to use video when they do not have the time, money, or technical expertise to produce full-featured videos for their listings.

Since we’re always on the lookout for good examples of how to use practical tips and tools to overcome obstacles and build your real estate business, we couldn’t resist sharing this great example of how to create videos without using actual video footage, as demonstrated by Mike Walker of Ohio.

At first glance, Mike’s approach seems very straightforward: He takes photos of his listings and creates slide shows which can then be exported to video for YouTube.com and other video sharing sites. The devil, however, is really in the details with Mike’s videos.

He employs five small, but effective techniques to make his videos more entertaining and more effective at communicating essential information:

1. Mike uses a special effect / transition in the video to draw the eye into or across the photo– typically called the “Ken Burns” effect, this motion keeps the photos from sitting idle in the video

2. Mike incorporates some music to the photos; you could also record audio of yourself talking about attributes of the property (or do both)

3. In YouTube, Mike wisely titles every video with the property address as well as a contact phone number. This way, his contact information TRAVELS with the video, wherever it may be embedded or shared!

4. Inside of each video, Mike makes sure to include the address of his website– this way, individual videos become magnets for traffic back to his site, even if the video is embedded in other pages

5. You’ll notice that Mike uses the same videos for his “Available” and “Just Sold” properties. When a property he’s sold is no longer on the market, he can easily change the text above the video to “Just Sold” to showcase past listings he’s successfully brought to market

If you think video is out of range for you, think again. This is an excellent, low-cost, low-overhead model for increasing prospect engagement on your own website.

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